


Heart Like a Stallion

by LydiaArgent



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F, Femslash, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-15
Updated: 2014-11-15
Packaged: 2018-02-25 10:24:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2618411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LydiaArgent/pseuds/LydiaArgent
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Seeing your city torn apart around you is rough. Yang and Nora talk about it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Heart Like a Stallion

Nora skipped softly down the hallway to the training room, Magnhild bouncing on her shoulder. She hummed quietly as she went, some jingle from a commercial she couldn't get out of her head and also couldn't stop singing. Which was, more or less, why Ren had gently kicked her out of the room in the middle of the night.

She threw open the doors to the enormous hall, looking forward to having the place to herself so she could practice some new aerial moves Pyrrah had called “risky” and Jaune had called “suicidal”. A light glowing in the far corner of the room, paired with the irregular thumping rhythm of someone hitting a steel-core punching bag at full force, made her pause. She stood on her toes and could just make out a blonde head of hair.

Picking her way around mats, free weights, and someone's spare throwing knives, Nora tried to make enough noise that Yang wouldn't get startled and throw a punch her way. Yang ignored Nora as she got close, keeping her red-tinted eyes intent on the bag in front of her. Not breaking her stride, Nora made the split-second decision to lean against the wall and wait. Yang's hair was streaked dark with sweat, and her jacket was crumpled in the corner. Her bare back gleamed, the dim light making the sharp, straining lines of her muscles stand out. 

Yang threw a finishing combination, the last punch making the bag's chain creak warningly. Yang reached out to steady it, still breathing hard.

“Come here often?” Nora teased, and winced when it fell completely flat. Yang did finally turn to look at her, blinking the eerie glow out of her eyes.

“You're out late,” said Yang, as she went for her water bottle by Nora's feet. It was hard not to notice the bleeding skin at Yang's knuckles.

“Couldn't sleep,” Nora tried to say lightly, but Yang's quick glance told her it didn't quite work. She had seen hordes of Grimm pour out from the sidewalk of her kingdom, had felt the ground shake as buildings she'd known for years crashed down around her. It was making her jumpy, and her usual cheerful energy was starting to feel a little frantic. “Also, I pissed Ren off enough that he kicked me out.”

Yang snorted and pulled her water bottle away from her mouth. “That happen a lot?”

Nora paused, lack of sleep and the fall of Yang's hair over her bare shoulders making it harder for her to grab for a joke. 

“Shit, sorry, I didn't mean it like... I have no idea how I meant it. My foot lives in my mouth sometimes.” Yang leaned against the wall next to Nora and sank to sit on the floor, and Nora joined her a moment later.

“Wanna talk about it?”

Yang let out a sharp sigh, and tipped her head back hard against the brick. “Nope.”

Contrary to popular belief, Nora knew when to be quiet. She'd been friends with Ren a long time.

After another long swallow of water, Yang slanted a look over at Nora. “How much do you know about a few days ago?”

“Not a lot,” Nora admitted. “Grimm bursting out of the ground like the worst daisies ever, and you guys fought the White Fang on a train.”

“Not a bad summary, actually.” Yang drained the last of her water, and sent the bottle rolling away. “I got my ass handed to me by a little shit with an umbrella.”

Nora shrugged, and her shoulder brushed against Yang's. “Even we can't win 'em all.”

Yang turned and gave her a weird look, kind of confused and kind of sad, like she wanted something from Nora and had no idea what it could be. “I always have before.”

“Ah ha. And so you're taking it out on innocent punching bags, who just wanted to get a good night's sleep?” Yang's look shifted firmly into confused territory, and Nora gave her a small smile. “So you lost one fight, out of like, a thousand. What are you worried about? Protecting Ruby?”

Yang actually laughed at that. “Hell no. Ruby's way better than I am.” She sounded proud, and it made Nora bite down on a grin. “It was just me and Ruby for so long, and we definitely made more than our share of trouble. We knew we could handle ourselves, and we always made it out okay. But now,” Yang met Nora's eyes, and her voice got strangely quiet. “Now there's you, and JNPR, and CFVY, and don't get me wrong, you're all totally incredible. But you shouldn't have had to clean up our mess.”

Nora considered that, and blew a raspberry.

“Excuse me?” Yang looked completely taken aback, and Nora tapped her gently on the nose.

“Wrong. Not your mess,” Nora said, and Yang looked incensed.

“We couldn't figure out what the White Fang were doing in time, and we didn't stop that train before it hit the city!”

Nora dismissed that for the rambling that it is and talked over Yang. “And yeah, actually, we definitely had help. We all have our reasons for coming to Beacon, Yang.” Yang's mouth clicked shut at that, and she looked at Nora curiously. Nora realized she'd been almost yelling, and takes a deep breath. Throwing whatever caution she possessed (none, according to most people) to the wind, Nora picked up Yang's hand and ran a thumb over her raw knuckles. “This is everyone's school, everyone's city, and definitely everyone's mess. We all have to have each others' backs.”

The corners of Yang's mouth turned up slightly, a real smile for the first time tonight. “You're a pretty smart girl, Nora Valkyrie.”

Nora grinned brightly. “I know! Hey, you hungry after teaching that punching bag what's what?”

“Starving,” Yang said dramatically, pushing herself to her feet and pulling Nora along with her. “Daring midnight kitchen raid?”

“That is the most beautiful thing anyone's ever said to me.”


End file.
